Pattern of antibiotic use in neonatal intensive care unit in tertiary care hospital in Southern India

Background: Repeated and prolonged courses of antibiotics exposure have resulted in an increase in the prevalence of hospital acquired infections and antibiotic resistant profile. The objective of this study was to quantify the use of antibiotics in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) from rural tertiary health care centre.Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted in the NICU of tertiary care hospital located in western Maharashtra, India during the year 2011-12. A total of 237 neonates admitted to NICU from October 2011 to March 2012 were enrolled in the study according to inclusion criteria of the study. Demographic details, data on antibiotic prescriptions (name, dose, frequency, route of administration) were recorded by utilizing pre-tested structured proforma.Results: A total of 3822 prescriptions were received by the neonates and commonly prescribed antibiotics were amikacin (75.53%), cefotaxime (43.34%) and ampicillin (31.33%) respectively. It was also noted that 50% of the drugs prescribed were in compliance with the national list of essential medicines 2011. The max, 68.75% of antibiotics prescribed were in generics forms however, 12.5% were prescribed in the form of fixed dose combinations.Conclusions: The revealed that 3rd generation cephalosporins and amikacin are most commonly used antibiotics in NICU

Co-infection of Hepatitis A and Hepatitis E Viruses among the Acute Viral Hepatitis Cases in Tertiary Care Hospital –A Four Years Retrospective Study

Acute viral hepatitis(AVH) is caused by Hepatitis A (HAV) and Hepatitis E(HEV). It is major health burden in India. Both the viruses HAV and HEV are primarily transmitted via the faeco-oral course. Study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of HAV, HEV and rate of co-infection in AVH patients attending rural tertiary care centre. A retrospective laboratory record based study was carried out in rural tertiary health care center located in Western Maharashtra. Laboratory and Medical records of suspected acute viral infection patients were analyzed during study. Study period was June 2014 to July 2018. Commercially available ELISA kits of IgM anti-HAV and IgM anti-HEV were used to analyze serum samples of suspected study participants. Tests were carried out as per the manufacturer’s instructions. A total of 778 acute viral hepatitis cases were included in the study from July 2014 to July 2018 among which 85/778 (10.9 %) detected positive for HAV and 121/778 (15.6%) detected positive for HEV. Co-infection was identified in 6/778(0.8 %). Jaundice, fever fatigue and hepatomegaly were common clinical presentation in HAV, HEV and confection with both viruses in acute viral hepatitis patients. Study indicated low exposure to HAV in childhood bellow 16 years. Co-infection rate was detected high in 16-25 years age group. Vaccination policy against HAV in adolescent age group needed as there is change epidemiological shift of HAV which has been observed in the current study. These data will helps for planning future vaccination strategies, better implementation sanitation program, and safe water supply in this geographic area